Air-floated barge



March 22, 1927,

1,621,625 v. F. CASEY 'AIR FLOATED BARGE 2 Sheets-Sheen Filed Sept. 1925 K0300 fiMbJqy Jig/1513427 2M 1M Vii M March 22, 1927 1,621,625 V. F. CASEY AIR FLOATED BARGB F iiled Sept. 14. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 22, 1927.

UNITED STATES.

VASCO F. CASEY, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

.AIR-FLOATED BAR-GE.

Application filed September 14, 1925. Serial No. 56,189.

This invention relates to the flotation of boats or vessels, and more especially of those of the flat bottom type usually designated as barges, and has for its object to reduce to a minimum the friction due to travel of the boat through the water.

It is a known fact that, in all boats or vessels, and especially in boats of the barge type, which have flat or substantially flat bottoms and very shallow water draft, the water friction in the travel of the boat is very great, due to the large amount of wet surface.

In accordance with my invention, I reduce this water friction to a minimum by floating the barge or boat directly upon a sheet of air. Moreover, by forcing the circulation of this sheet of air in a rearward direction under the bottom of the boat, I obtain a forwardly propelling action that, in effect, does more than overcome frictional water resistance to the forward travel of the boat and actually produces a forward travel of the boat. I do not, however, generally propose to rely solely on this forward propelling action of the circulated air sheet, but will use any of the well known propelling devices, such as paddle wheels, screw propellers or the like, as the primary propelling means. Of course, energy will be required to maintain and circulate or rearwardly propel the sheet of air used to float the boat, but well known methods of calculation clearly show that a very much less total expenditure of energy, applied as above indicated, will be required to propel a boat of a definite size at a definite speed than is required to propel the same boat at the same speed by the older methods wherein the boat is subject to the customary water friction and all of the energy used for direct propulsion.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view with some parts broken away, illustrating my invention applied to an ordinary barge or fiat bottom boat;

Fig. 2 is a view partly in side elevation, but chiefly in section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan view showin my invention applied to a barge and illustrating a somewhat modified application of the invention;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the barge shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view partly in side elevation and partly in section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged transverse section on the line 7-7 of Fig. 4:.

Referring first to the construction illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the numeral 8 indicates the barge or flat bottom boat. In accordance with my invention, the bottom of this barge is formed with a plurality of longitudinal open bottom air channels 9 formed between depending flanges 10 shown as in the form of angle bars rigidly secured to the bottom of the boat and extended longitudinally thereof but terminating slightly short of the inclined front and rear bottom portions of the barge. Here it may be noted that the bottom of the boat, just in front and at the rear of the channels 9, extends down to the bottoms of the flanges 10, as indicated at 11, so that the extreme ends of the channels 9 are closed but, of

course, leaving the entire bottoms of the channels 9 open against the water.

In the scheme here illustrated, the air is arranged to be circulated over and over through the channels 9, and for this purpose I provide for each channel 9 an air-circulating pipe 12 located at some convenient place within the barge. The air pipes 12 are pro' vided with flattened and transversely expanded front ends 13 that open directly into the front ends of the respective air channels 9, and said pipes at, their rear ends are pro vided with similar flattened and transversely expanded portions 14 that are connected directly to the rear ends of the respective air channels 9. For the circulation of air through the air pipes 12 and channels 9, I provide primary air-propelling devices preferably in the form of fans or blowers 15 that are interposed in the respective pipes 12. The rotors of these blowers 15, are, as shown, all connected to a common transverse shaft 16 arranged tobe driven through a belt 17 from a motor 18 carried by the barge.

to the bottom of the boat, leaving the bottoms of the channels 9 sealed with water. Of course, in forcing the air rearwardly under the bottom of "the boat, there will be a reaction tending to propel the boat forward, and this reaction will more tha n overcome the slight water resistance. The main portion of the boat is thus floated'on airand the air, of course, offers av very slight resistance 'to the movementof the boat. The wet surface is reduced to a minimum a'ndits friction, as indicated, is morethan overcome or offset by the tendency to propel theboat forward.

In the above described arrangement, wherein the air circul'atedina continuous course over and 'over again under the bottom of the boat, there will'be more or less leakof air and lcakage'of air would reduce the thickness of the sheet of air maintained under the'bottom of the boat and more or less water would displace the lost air and would ultimately get into the air-circulating pipe. To prevent this, I preferably provide auxiliary fans or blowers 19, one for each circulating pipe 12. These blowers 19 are provided with air discharge pipes 20 that open obliquelyinto the air pipes 12 at points' on the receiving sides of the corresponding blowers 15 and incline in "the direction of thetravel of the air through said .pipes. The rotors of these blowers 19, as shown, are carried by a common transverse coun- 'tershaft 21 that is driven through a belt22 from a motor 23 suitably mounted on the barge. It is the intention that thesecondary or auxiliary blowers 19 shouldbe operated at a speed suflicient to imaintainthe air sheetsin the several channels?) and t-hat the blowers 15 should be called upon only to circulate the air in the direction indicated. In the branch pipes '20 are applied check valves 2 l-preferably of the flapper valve type, which freely permit the discharge of air from the blowers 19 to the air pipes 12, but check a reverse flow through said branch pipes. V

lVith the arrangement just described, the

air confined in the channels 9 will engage nearly the entire bottom of the barge and, obviously the barge may be propelled forwardly on the supporting air under very slight resistance and the reaction from the discharge of air through the channels '9 will tend to propel the boat forwardly -or at least will'oflsetthe resistancedueto the slight wet surface, due to direct'contact between the water and small areas of the barge.

By confining the air under the bottom-of the boat to travel in several laterally spaced 7 channels, listingofthe boat laterally, due to over-accumulation of air at one side of the boat, is prevented. To .prevent rushlng of the air and too great accumul'at-ion thereof either atthe front or Tear endof the boat,

theairchannels 9 are provided with longitudinally spaced depressions 25 whloh are arranged to be always somewhat above the level of the water in the respective channels 9.

In 'the modified construction illustrated in Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7, the air is circulated from "the front toward the rear under the bottom of the boat, but is not returned. In 'th1s arrangement, the barge S on its bottom is iprovided'with longitudinally spaced de- "pending flanges 10 that form air channels 9 under the bottom of the barge. These channels 9. have longitudinally spaced depressions 25 that correspond in character and function to the depressions 25 of the structure first described. At the rear extremities of the channels 9*, the bottom of the barge is formed with depressions 26, under and past which the air, channels 9 'and' flanges 10 are extended so that air from the channels '9 will be discharged at the stern or rear "of the 'boat. In this arrangement, blowers or fans 15 are provided with discharge spouts 12 that deliver air into jinclinedstern of the barge, so that the air,

in escaping, produces a forward propulsion of'the boat, both by the reaction against the water and the upward movement thereof against the said inclined stern.

As before stated, the boat may be pro- :pelled primarily by any suitable propelling means. In Figs t and v5, I have shown a stern 'wheel propeller 34 driven from a motor 35 through a countershaft 36, sprocket chains 37, belt 38, and cooperating sprocket wheels and pulleys.

\Vhat I claim is: v

1. A boatequipped with means for maintaining under the bottom thereof a sheet of air on which the boat is floated, and means formaintainingan endless circulation of'the air and for forcing rearwardly the air on which the boat'is floated.

2. A boat having an approximately flat bottom formed with longitudinal-air channels open at their'bottomsagainst-the water,

in combination with powerdriven means for forcing air into the front end portions of said air channels and causing the same to travel reari'vartlly, the's'aid air channels having longitudinally spaced depressions 'for the purpose described.

3. A boat having an approximately flat bottom formed with longitudinal air channels" open at their bottoms against the water,

power-driven blowers carried by the boat and provided with air discharge pipes that open into the front end portions of said air channels and discharge air in a rearward direction under the bottom of the boat, and air return pipes leading from the rear end port-ions of said air channels to the respective blowers.

4:. A boat having an approximately fiat bottom formed with longitudinal air channels open at their bottoms against the water,

power-driven blowers carried by the boat and provided with air discharge pipes that open into the front end portions of said air channels and discharge air in a rearward direction under the bottom of the boat, air return pipes leading from the rear end portions of said air channels to the respective blowers, and secondary blowers delivering into said air return pipes.

5. The structure defined in claim 4 in further combination with check valves applied to prevent return flow from said returi pipes to said secondary blowers. I

In testimony whereof I atfix my signature.

VASCO F. CASEY. 

